


Meaningless, Meaningful

by Crowned_Ladybug



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Tumblr Prompt, i'm a big sucker for jackie calling marvin beautiful regardless of his scars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-03
Updated: 2017-11-03
Packaged: 2019-01-29 01:34:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12620152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crowned_Ladybug/pseuds/Crowned_Ladybug
Summary: "Who hurt you?"Or, Marvin comes home late and jumpy, and Jackie offers him comfort the best he can.Requested by anonymous on Tumblr.





	Meaningless, Meaningful

**Author's Note:**

> I’m finally bringing some deeper Marvin angst into this shit and also the fact that Jackie isn’t just a perfect cinnamon roll either. One day I’ll actually write a fic where he throws punches, too.

It's rare that Marvin gets home later than Jackie. Wait, no, scratch that, it just _doesn't happen. Ever_.

So what's going on now?

Because Jackie is sitting in the kitchen on his own, stirring his mug of tea absently and not even realising that it had gone cold long ago. He keeps staring at the door, waiting to hear the familiar noises of Marvin coming home – his footsteps, the keys jingling, the faintest noise of his cape trailing behind him, then a lively voice announcing that he's home. Again and again he looks down at the sticky note he'd found on the fridge, telling him that Marvin should be home soon, half an hour at most. That half an hour had run out an hour ago.

Jackie considers, have been considering for a while now, setting out to find Marvin, but he also knows that if they miss each other and Marvin gets home while he's gone, the situation just flips and they get nowhere. So he waits. He hates waiting, sitting down instead of doing something to solve the situation, but he has nothing else to do.

He tries to calm his troubled thoughts and tell himself that Marvin probably just got distracted. He probably just found some new cool store he hasn't seen yet and forgot about time while browsing. Maybe he just got held up or simply forgot that he put down a time on the note he had left for Jackie. He's probably fine, Jackie tells himself over and over again, there's nothing to worry about. Nothing at all.

All of that goes down the drain when Jackie suddenly hears shuffling coming from the door. He's not sure why, and he doesn't question it either, but he immediately gets the feeling that something is wrong. He jumps up and rushes to the door, and relief washes over him when he sees Marvin there.

"Where have you been?" Jackie cheers, louder and more excited than what the situation would require. Marvin flinches at the volume of his voice and yep, something is _definitely_ wrong.

"I...I got held up is all, sorry," Marvin shrugs and avoids Jackie's eyes. He's a horrible liar.

Jackie is by his side in a second and takes one of his hands into his own gently. There's a scrape on one of Marvin's cheeks and the side of his mask is dirty. But above all Jackie recognises that frantic look in his eyes that he'd hoped he'd never have to see again, and it breaks his heart a little.

"Who hurt you?" Jackie asks and when Marvin looks at him, he seems startled. But Jackie draws him against himself, careful to let him run if he wants to, and after a moment Marvin all but melts against him. He's shaking a little. Jackie instinctively wants to hold him as tight as he can, but he doesn't know if that would only hurt Marvin more. "What have they done to you?"

Marvin only shakes his head against his shoulder. Jackie doesn't push him.

"Come on," Jackie whispers and kisses the side of his head. For a second Marvin stiffens, and Jackie isn't sure if it's because he accidentally hurt him or because he wasn't expecting gentleness. Both of those options are saddening. "It's okay, come on."

He leads Marvin deeper into the house and Marvin clings to his arm as if he's too scared to let go. Maybe he is. In a way, Jackie is glad. Instead of pretending he's okay and nothing happened, Marvin is letting himself come undone and be vulnerable, and Jackie appreciates that. He's glad Marvin is letting him help and trusting him so much.

They go to Jackie's room simply because Jackie wants to get Marvin a big, soft hoodie so he can be much more comfortable than in the button-up he's currently wearing. But Marvin sits on the bed and presses his back against the wall, and Jackie knows that he's not planning on leaving the room anytime soon.

So when he's got one of his favourite hoodies in hand, he just places himself next to Marvin as he gives it to him. Marvin takes it, mumbles a "thanks" so quiet Jackie can barely hear it, but doesn't put it on immediately. He holds it in his lap, staring into nothing and absently thumbing at the fabric. Then he raises his hand and fumbles with the edge of his mask.

Jackie stays silent. He didn't want to mention the mask, because he knows that Marvin likes keeping it on for comfort. And so he's very surprised when Marvin pulls it off with a single movement and tosses it onto the sheets about an arm's length away. Jackie stares at the mask questioningly, but Marvin doesn't seem to want to explain his actions. Instead he fumbles with his buttons, his fingers shaky and weak, and finally shrugs his shirt off once he's done. As he pushes the shirt away too, Jackie can see the red marks along his upper arm and the bruises starting to blossom over his ribs. Part of him is angry, he wants to be out there this very second, searching for whoever has done this to Marvin, his Marvin, and take revenge. But another part of him, the one that almost always wins because that's just his nature, holds him back. It tells him to stay put and take care of Marvin, because that's way more important right now.

Marvin pulls the hoodie on and that in itself makes him feel just a little bit better. Because the hoodie is big and warm and soft on the inside and it smells like Jackie. It's comforting. He closes his eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath. Jackie watches him, still silent.

"They called me a monster, a _freak_ ," Marvin starts quietly, staring straight ahead. His fright and panic are gone and he just feels numb.

Jackie reaches out for him, tentative. Marvin is a tough guy, but at the same time he's so, so fragile, and the last thing Jackie wants to do is break him. But as soon as he touches him, gentle and comforting, even if just a hand on his shoulder, he sees him break. He shatters like glass, beautiful and dangerous, with warnings so small they're all too easy to miss.

Marvin jerks forward as he starts crying, violent sobs wracking his body. "They...they told me they wanted me to _die_ ," he doesn't hide his face in his arms, he just hugs himself around the torso and rocks forward. Jackie is immediately right next to him, pulling him into his arms and Marvin presses into him desperately. "They hit me and yelled at me and told me I should burn in Hell."

Jackie holds him close and tries to swallow his anger because that's really not what he needs right now. He can think about that later, about finding whoever "they" are and teaching them a lesson even if it blemishes his name as a hero, but now is not the time.

"They lied," Jackie murmurs, keeping his voice gentle. He can feel Marvin trembling, his frantic heartbeat and shaky breaths as he cries, and he can't fathom how someone could do something like this. "They lied, you know that, right? They lied."

But Marvin shakes his head. "No, no they-..."

Jackie swears his heart misses a beat at that. But the next second he squeezes Marvin closer to himself, maybe a little too roughly, and his voice chokes up when he talks. "Don't you dare say they're right, because they aren't, okay? They're wrong, they're the monsters and the freaks and they should go to Hell for saying things like that. They lied."

Marvin struggles out of his arms quickly and violently like he's fighting off an attacker, and Jackie lets go of him immediately, because of course he won't just hold him down and hurt him even more. Marvin sits back and stares at him with fire in his eyes, but it's the kind of fire that only really burns Marvin himself. Jackie doesn't know how to put it out, not right now at least.

"Then tell me, what do you call a guy who runs around doing magic, for fuck's sake, _actual magic_? Huh?" Marvin shouts, and more tears spill from his eyes. "What do you call a guy who wears a ridiculous fucking mask because he can't even face the fact that he looks like something out of a God damn nightmare because he just can't ever get anything right?" he wants to say more, so much more, he wants to yell at the world but also at himself for being this way, but he runs out of breath as be breaks down crying again. "I'm a freak, that's all I am. I'm a _freak_."

"No..."

Marvin laughs sadly before Jackie could continue. "You don't need to lie."

"I'm not lying," he scoots a little closer, but Marvin gives him a wary look, so he stays put. He doesn't want to scare him even more. "Magic, it's...it's an amazing talent, a gift, and if anyone thinks it makes you a freak or that you belong in Hell for it, well...they're just plain stupid, honestly."

"Yeah, sure," Marvin looks to the side. He's still crying and every time he tries to take a deep breath he feels like his throat is closing up and there's only more tears.

"And your scars and the reason you wear a mask is nobody's business."

Marvin shakes his head bitterly. "Doesn't seem much like it."

"Listen, I don't care what people say, they have nothing to do with this. They have no right to talk shit about you just because you have scars," it hurts that this needs to be said at all. But apparently people thrive on causing pain and whoever has made Marvin feel this way has done an expert job. Jackie wants to congratulate them with a fist to the face.

He's not sure Marvin is even listening to him. He just cries silently, looking absolutely dejected and stuck in his own little world. Jackie doesn't know what's causing him more pain, the words of others or his own thoughts, but either way it must be tearing him apart.

Jackie moves a little closer and this time Marvin doesn't seem to mind. He looks at Jackie, then away again to stare into nothingness. He doesn't even flinch when Jackie wraps an arm around him and pulls him close again, not even when puts a hand on his cheek.

"I don't care that you have scars," Jackie whispers as he gently wipes the tears from Marvin's cheeks. There's more of them coming, of course there are, but that's a different story. "I don't care, I think you're beautiful as you are," he knows Marvin would usually tease him for being cheesy and saying things like that, but this time he doesn't and it hurts a little. Instead he just shifts a little closer and listens, breaths still shaky and barely short of sobs. "Your scars don't make you any less attractive or valuable. And they certainly don't keep me from loving you."

Marvin lets out another sob when Jackie kisses his forehead. He's still hurting, and now he's confused too, because Jackie is here loving him when he's the most convinced that no one should. But he's here. He presses kisses into Marvin's skin, tracing the scars on his face gently and murmuring comforting words.

"They're just...there. That's it. They don't change anything, not for me," lastly he kisses the spot between Marvin's eyes and smiles as he pulls back a little. "I love them like I love the rest of you, because they're part of you."

Marvin doesn't know what to say to that. He leans forward and winds his arms tightly around Jackie and he's bawling again. Jackie holds him tight, runs a hand up and down his back and tells him that it's okay.

"I love you," Marvin mumbles and he's not sure Jackie can even hear it.

But he can, because for a moment he stops and curls his hand into the back of Marvin's hoodie and kisses his shoulder. "I know, I love you too."


End file.
